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LED Jar As Photo Frame

Introduction: LED Jar As Photo Frame

As I was looking for a new idea to kill my spare time today, I saw an empty jar at the corner of my bookshelf and some old photos were floating around on my table. I recalled reading somewhere on the Internet in which they showed how to use a jar as a creative way to display your photo.

That would work for me! Wait a minute, I can add flavor to this idea. Why don't I light up the jar with a LED? This will look way cooler and it's not hard to make it happen. So that's how I started this Instructable

See the video below for one of my finished works:

Step 1: Materials and Tools

Of course, you will need:

An empty jar with aluminum cap with a round hole in the middle of the cap. This hole will come in handy later on. You can use Mansion jar which can be easily bought everywhere (in US)

1 LED, prefer super bright diffused one

1 CR2032 coin battery

1 battery holder

Electrical wire of your choice

Wire cutter and plier

Small switch which can fit into the hole (see photo)

A photo

Step 2: Soldering and Assembly

The circuit of this build is very straightforward.

+ (of the battery holder) goes to 1 of the switch pins (not the middle one)

- (of the battery holder) goes to - (of the LED, shorter leg)

+ (of the LED) connects to middle pin of the switch

Gluing them onto the cap and make sure they stick to it.

Insert the switch half way through the hole and glue it.

Some notes:

-Bend the LED legs 90 degrees before cutting it short

-Cut short the battery holder pins since they're pretty long and will make it hard to glue it.

Step 3: Testing and Finish

Light it UP. Try to switch on and off to see if the switch is well attached to the cap.

Actually, you should try with a big jar to avoid light being blocked by the photo. Otherwise, this jar is good to go.

It can be used as a night lamp and of course, as a holder like any normal jar. Just don't fill it up with water please :)

Finally, try with different color until you get the best fit. Or you can have all the colors as I did :D (I'm still missing some color though, i.e. yellow, white)

Let me know if you have any other input or improvement. Show us your product!